More Than a Home: Island Housing Trust Brings Community Together 7/28

July 23, 2026 
Somesville, Maine 

More Than a Home: Island Housing Trust Brings Community Together 

More than 100 community members gathered at The Gallery at Somes Sound for An Evening with Island Housing Trust, where the message was clear: Island Housing Trust is about far more than building homes. It is about the people who anchor our year-round community.

Doctors. Nurses. Teachers. First responders. Librarians. Park rangers. Carpenters. Plumbers. Small business owners. These are the people who make Mount Desert Island thrive, not just during the busy summer months, but every day of the year.

Island Housing Trust's vision is simple: that year-round community on MDI thrives.

Board President Jim Green welcomed friends and neighbors to The Gallery, thanking the community for coming together to learn more about one of MDI's greatest challenges, and one of its greatest opportunities. He reminded guests that solving the housing crisis requires all of us working together.

Executive Director Sherry Billings spoke about the families IHT serves, hard-working people earning what is often referred to as the "mission middle." Their household incomes exceed the limits for most state and federal housing assistance programs. Yet, they cannot afford to purchase a home in a market where the average home price on MDI is approximately $650,000.

Recent Island Housing Trust homes have sold for between $320,000 and $350,000, well below what it actually costs to build them.

"The gap between what we spend to build the house and what we sell it for," Billings explained, "represents our investment in the community.”

That investment lasts for generations. Every IHT home carries a permanent affordability covenant, ensuring that each home remains attainable for future year-round residents.

The evening also highlighted the partnerships that make this work possible.

Johanna Boynton shared the story behind the generous donation she and her husband, John, made last winter: a parcel of land at 131 Main Street in Northeast Harbor. Boynton reflected on growing up in a vibrant downtown where she knew the shopkeepers by name and where neighbors looked after one another throughout every season.

Those memories inspired their decision to donate the property.

"We wanted to be part of the solution," she shared, helping preserve the kind of community that shaped their lives and ensuring future generations can experience the same sense of belonging.

Anne Green, Director of the Cornelia Cogswell Rossi Foundation, then spoke about carrying forward the philanthropic vision of the Foundation's founders, lifelong summer residents of MDI. The Foundation has invested in numerous community organizations over the years, including a recent gift supporting Ripples Hill Phase 3, where nine new homes are currently being placed on their foundations.

Perhaps the most moving remarks came from Dr. Daniel Lomelin, a family physician at MDI Hospital.

Dr. Lomelin described how he and his wife dreamed of raising their children in a place where they could grow, learn, and become active members of a close-knit community. They found that close-knit community on MDI, but homeownership remained out of reach. Like many year round families, they moved from one rental to another, uncertain where they would live next, and even began considering leaving the Island.

Then they learned about Island Housing Trust.

Encouraged by friends to apply, the Lomelin’s were approved as IHT applicants and selected to purchase Home #5 in Ripples Hill Phase 3. Soon, they will move into their permanent home with their growing family, welcoming their third child in just a few weeks.

One story, in particular, resonated throughout the room.

Their oldest child recently came home from school and told her parents that she loved her teacher, loved her friends, and wanted to stay here forever.

The moment brought tears to Dr. Lomelin's eyes and to many throughout the audience. That is what Island Housing Trust's mission is truly about.

It is about allowing families to put down roots, build lasting relationships, and create the same lifelong memories Johanna Boynton so fondly recalled from her own childhood.

The evening concluded with another inspiring example of community partnership. An anonymous donor purchased a 12-acre parcel of land so that a longtime year-round resident could remain in her home for the rest of her life. Both the donor and homeowner shared a common vision: preserving the land for year-round housing forever.

The property was donated to Island Housing Trust, which established a life lease allowing the resident to age in place. When the time comes, the land will become home to permanently affordable workforce housing under IHT's covenant model.

It is a powerful example of how philanthropy can take many forms, and how partnerships can create lasting community impact.

Island Housing Trust extends its sincere gratitude to Tyra Hansen for graciously opening The Gallery at Somes Sound for the event; to Clark Point Catering, led by IHT homeowner and Board member Jeannie Anderson, for an outstanding reception; and to our hosts, speakers, volunteers, and the more than 100 guests who navigated a busy evening in Somesville to be part of this important conversation.

As Billings concluded, solving MDI's housing challenges will take more than one organization.

It will take partnerships.

It will take philanthropy.

And it will take a community committed to ensuring that the people who care for our Island can continue to call it home.

To learn more, schedule a conversation with Executive Director Sherry Billings, tour Ripples Hill Phase 3, or make a gift by visiting www.islandhousingtrust.org.